title: Efficacy and benefits of catheter ablation of ventricular premature complexes in patients younger and older than 65 years of age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Catheter ablation of ventricular premature complexes (VPC) improves clinical status and systolic performance of the left ventricle (LV) in a certain subset of patients; however, whether or not VPC ablation is equally effective in younger (<=65 years) and older (>65 years) patients remains unclear. We aimed to assess the clinical benefits of catheter ablation of VPCs in elderly patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one consecutive patients (66±10 years, 49 male) who underwent catheter ablation for symptomatic VPCs were included into the study. Twenty-seven patients were aged >65 years and 24 patients <=65 years. Frequency of VPCs per total heart beats by 24-hour Holter monitoring, LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and end-systolic diameters (LVEDD) were evaluated before and 6±3 months after ablation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pre-ablation 24-hour VPC burden and VPC number were significantly higher in patients >65 years compared to those <=65 years (31±15.3 vs. 21.9±12.6, p=0.04 and 34493±21226 vs. 23554±13792, p=0.026, respectively). At the follow-up after catheter ablation, the mean VPC burden had decreased to 9.1±10.3% (p<0.001) in patients >65 years and to 3.8±7.1 (p<0.001) in patients <=65 years. Mean LVEF showed a significant increase in both groups after ablation (43.4±10.4 vs. 51.5±8.2, p=0.005 for age >65 years and 40.8±13.2 vs. 49.5±11.8, p=0.003 for age <=65 years). The improvement in LVEF was accompanied by a significant decrease in LVEDD (p=0.032 for age >65 years and p=0.047 for <=65 years).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Catheter ablation is effective for treatment of frequent VPCs in all age groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Division, Minnesota University Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. mehmetkky@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akkaya
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Roukoz
authors.forename: Selçuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adabağ
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.forename: Jian Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Venkat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tholakanahalli
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology; D018879:Ventricular Premature Complexes / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*